Chapter 836

The crowd followed a path of pebbles, passed through several ancient forests and numerous Daoist temples, walking deep inward until they finally reached the Eighteenth Layer Stone Garden and stopped.

The stone gambling den had its own rules: the deeper you went, the more expensive the stones became; the First Layer Garden was open to anyone who wanted to try their luck, but no one could enter the Eighteenth Layer Garden without permission.

The Eighteenth Layer Garden represented a price beyond measure—its raw stones were extremely costly, one jin of stone equaling ten jin of source; stone was more valuable than source, and if no variant source could be cut from the stone, the loser might as well jump off the rooftop.

Yet whether the Great Xia Imperial Prince or the Golden Clan's expert from the Northern Plains, neither lacked source; as for Fang Yu, though he cared little for source, if he wanted it, he could have it.

"How is this place?"

The Great Xia Imperial Prince spoke.

Jin Chixiao, heir of the Golden Clan of the Northern Plains, shook his head. "We've come this far—why not go to the Son of Heaven Stone Garden? You might see something truly astonishing."

"Sss!"

Many drew in sharp breaths—the Son of Heaven Stone Garden was even more astonishing than the Eighteenth Layer Garden; the stones there were terrifyingly expensive, and almost no young cultivator had the qualifications to enter, only a few ancient elders with vast accumulations of source dared to go there.

"There, one stone can be worth a thousand jin of source; some go hoping for luck, only to turn pale from losses."

"You must pay thousands of jin of source before even seeing the source inside the stone—who could afford that? Even the Supreme Elders of the Sacred Sects would feel the pain."

"If the stone holds nothing, the loss is too great."

"Of course, if a rare treasure emerges from the stone—its value staggering—it's not unheard of to gain tens of thousands of jin of source, even one hundred thousand. Rumors say someone once cut out an Ancient Divine Being, shocking everyone."

Cutting stones in the Son of Heaven Stone Garden was undeniably thrilling—cut one way, you live; cut another, you die; joy and sorrow, two entirely different worlds.

Yet after a brief hesitation, the Great Xia Imperial Prince agreed.

Fang Yu naturally did not refuse.

Having cultivated to this level, gambling stones with others was no different from restocking; last time, before leaving the Shrouding Heaven Realm, he had restocked once—now, if he restocked again and obtained fine materials, refining his Dao artifact would be no bad thing.

Immediately, all continued forward and arrived at the Son of Heaven Stone Garden.

Inside the garden stood an ancient vine, ten meters in diameter, like a colossal dragon sprawled across the ground, spreading its tendrils in all directions.

This was no tree—it was merely a vine, yet so thick that its tendrils reached every corner of the Dao Yi Sacred Sect's stone gambling den.

Beside the ancient vine stood a well, built from source stones, its rope worn smooth by countless pulls.

The Son of Heaven Stone Garden was eerily quiet, with few visitors—only this group was present.

Yet once the group arrived, the entire Son of Heaven Stone Garden buzzed with activity.

"The Great Xia Imperial Prince is gambling with someone—this will be good entertainment."

"His opponent is the heir of the Golden Clan of the Northern Plains—a peerless genius."

"And who is that? Is it Fang Yu? I've seen his portrait!"

"And the one beside Fang Yu—that's Ye Fan, the Ancient Primordial Saint Body, a reckless one who dared kill even the Ji Clan of the Ancient Primordial Era and the Yaoguang Sacred Sect."

The crowd grew lively; Fang Yu's portrait had even been painted and circulated among many cultivators in the Northern Region, etched into their memories—Ye Fan had also been recognized.

Everyone knew Ye Fan, the Ancient Primordial Saint Body, possessed the Xuan Huang Mother Qi Cauldron—a sacred artifact even Emperors dreamed of.

Had Ye Fan not been walking with Fang Yu, many would have already moved to seize him and steal the Xuan Huang Mother Qi Cauldron.

Of course, most could not enter—only those selecting stones were allowed inside, for the stones here were too precious.

Inside the garden sat an old Daoist nun on a meditation cushion, her age indiscernible; four or five elderly figures were also selecting stones.

When Fang Yu's group arrived, the old Daoist nun remained utterly still, like a withered tree.

Yet all others fell silent upon seeing her—everyone knew the guardian of the Son of Heaven Garden must be immensely powerful, at least an Immortal Platform Realm cultivator, only then could they deter those bold enough to storm the garden and steal stones.

As Fang Yu stepped inside, he sensed an aura from the primordial age—an elusive, profound Daoic resonance, clearly of extraordinary origin.

The raw stones here were few, each placed in its own designated spot; Dao Yi Sacred Sect's staff inspected them daily, for they were too precious.

A diligent source master trailed behind them, constantly offering explanations.

"This stone costs a thousand jin of source per jin? Isn't that too expensive?"

Without seeing it with your own eyes, you cannot be shocked—Ye Fan had thought himself wealthy after clearing the bandits of Anzhou and acquiring over a hundred thousand jin of source, but here, that sum barely covered a fraction.

"Most who come here are ancient elders—if they can win a chance at hope, a future, even a thousand jin of source per jin of stone is worth it."

The source master was unfazed.

"What treasures have been cut from stones here before?"

Tu Fei asked.

"Once, a divine source was cut out; other rare treasures, beyond description, have appeared."

The source master smiled.

"This stone is worth one hundred thousand jin of source?!"

Pang Bo gasped, staring at a few-hundred-jin stone before him, startled.

A few-hundred-jin stone priced at one hundred thousand jin of source—this price was absurd; back when he was in the Lingxu Cave Heaven, even one jin of source could last him a long time.

"This is insane—you're not selling stones, you're selling divine source!"

Tu Fei muttered.

"It's worth that price."

The source master said.

"Fang Brother, you are our honored guest today—why not pick a stone first?"

The Great Xia Imperial Prince turned to Fang Yu, his gaze shifting.

Around him flowed dragon qi—the supreme technique from the Ta Huang Scripture, Imperial Dragon Qi, famed as peerless in attack, capable of rivaling the "Dou" Zi Mi among the Nine Secrets, radiating majestic power.

Of course, this Imperial Dragon Qi had other uses too—it could probe the inner state of the stones.

In short, the Great Xia Imperial Prince was unquestionably a master of stone gambling.

Yet this prince insisted Fang Yu go first.

"Fine."

Fang Yu made no pretense of modesty; Daoic resonance flowed around him, his entire being seeming to merge with heaven and earth.

The Three Thousand Great Dao arts—Great Five Elements Art, Great Yin-Yang Art, Great Catastrophe Art, Great Primordial Art, Great Chaos Art, Great Star Art, Great Curse Art, and even Great Destiny Art—flowed within his body.

These were countless Great Dao arts, operating in unison, revealing boundless mysteries and transformations.

Where Fang Yu's gaze fell, every stone revealed traces of calamity qi, fortune qi, disaster qi, blessing qi, noble qi, and primordial qi… and more.

Countless qi flowed through the void, pouring into Fang Yu's eyes.

This was literally cheating.

He needed no Source Heaven Book to judge—having cultivated many Great Dao arts, Fang Yu observed the qi within each stone, and to him, these stones held no secrets.

Some stones appeared extraordinarily valuable, as if naturally formed, surely containing rare treasures; yet when he gazed at their qi, there was no fortune, no blessing, no noble qi—only a dull, unremarkable aura, clearly worthless.

Other stones, small and seemingly ordinary, radiated abundant fortune qi and blessing qi around them.

Some stones even contained killing qi—so dense that Fang Yu's Great Killing Art sensed it, and he knew this stone held a fine treasure: a weapon.

"I want this one, this one, this one, this one, and this one."

Fang Yu's gaze swept across, selecting five stones at once—the smallest stood one man's height, priced at three thousand jin of source; the largest stood three men's height, priced at one hundred thousand jin of source.

"Fang brother has already chosen? Five stones at once?"

"I'd like to see what good treasures Fang Dao friend has picked."

Both the Great Xia Imperial Prince and the young elite of the Northern Plain's Golden Clan wore expressions of curiosity.

Fang Yu's name now echoed throughout the Northern Region—he was famed far and wide, and all wondered what treasure he might claim today.

The Source Master of Dao Yi Holy Sect wished to assist in cutting the stones, but Fang Yu refused.

Fang Yu reached out and seized the smallest stone—the three-thousand-jin source stone—and rolling chaos qi surged forth; wherever it passed, the stone's outer crust dissolved into chaos qi.

"What? Is Fang Dao friend truly the legendary Chaos Body?"

Jin Chixiao of the Northern Plain's Golden Clan recoiled in shock, unable to believe what he saw.

"Heaven! With a single motion, rolling chaos qi spreads everywhere! I feel none of my arts could resist this chaos qi—if I faced him in battle, I'd die without a chance!"

Several young elites beside the Golden Clan also wore expressions of awe.

They were all peerless geniuses of major sects, which was why they could walk alongside the Golden Clan's heir—but now they realized their cultivated arts could not withstand even the casually flowing chaos qi.

"What is this boy's origin? Could he truly be the Chaos Body?"

Even the old nun, who had been sitting quietly nearby like a withered tree bark, suddenly opened her eyes, emitting beams of light.

Chaos Body!

Chaos Body?

Dao Yi Holy Sect had dreamed for years of obtaining a Chaos Body, but such a physique had not appeared in many ages.

Many were stunned, yet Fang Yu remained calm; chaos qi flowed, cracking open every stone's crust, and soon brilliant light burst forth—dazzling, as if a human figure were about to emerge, yet the chaos qi held it fast, preventing escape.

"What is that? A human figure?"

"A fairy emerging from the stone?"